About Santalum freycinetianum var. pyrularium (A.Gray) Stemmerm.
This taxon is Santalum freycinetianum var. pyrularium (A.Gray) Stemmerm. Santalum freycinetianum, commonly called forest sandalwood, Freycinet sandalwood, or ʻIliahi, is a flowering tree species in the Santalaceae (European mistletoe) family that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The species binomial name honors 19th-century French explorer Henri Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet. ʻIliahi grows in dry, coastal mesic, mixed mesic, and wet forests on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui, and Molokaʻi, at elevations ranging from 250 to 950 m (820 to 3,120 ft), and in areas that receive 500 to 3,800 mm (20 to 150 in) of annual rainfall. Like other species in the Santalum genus, ʻiliahi is a root hemi-parasite, meaning it obtains some of its nutrients from a host plant. Common host species for ʻIliahi include koa (Acacia koa), koaiʻa (Acacia koaia), and ʻaʻaliʻi (Dodonaea viscosa). The aromatic heartwood of ʻiliahi, called ʻlaʻau ʻala, contains valuable essential oils. Native Hawaiians used this wood to construct pola, the deck of a waʻa kaulua (double-hulled canoe). Powdered ʻlaʻau ʻala was used as a perfume and added to kapa cloth. Between 1791 and 1840, ʻiliahi trees were intensively harvested for export to China, where the hard yellowish-brown wood was used to make carved objects, chests, and incense. The ʻiliahi trade reached its peak from 1815 to 1826, and ended once no large trees remained. For medicinal uses, Native Hawaiians combined ʻiliahi leaves and bark with ashes from naio (Myoporum sandwicense) to treat kepia o ke poʻo (dandruff) and liha o ka lauoho (head lice). A mixture of ʻIliahi shavings, ʻawa (Piper methysticum), nioi (Eugenia reinwardtiana), ʻahakea (Bobea spp.), and kauila (Alphitonia ponderosa) was used to treat sexually transmitted diseases.
